Deception in "The Odyssey"

Summary: Deception is a key theme in the Greek epic poem "The Odyssey" by Homer. For example, Penelope uses deception to trick her suitors, Odysseus outsmarts the cyclops, and Odysseus uses trickery to eliminate those who have sided with the suitors.

In The Odyssey, originally by Homer but translated by Samuel Butler and revised by Malcolm M. Wilcock, deception is noted as one of the main themes seen throughout the entire story. Deception is seen as a positive characteristic and is associated with words like quick, clever, calculating, and cunning. Characters of The Odyssey, such as Penelope and Odysseus, use deception throughout the story to support his or her own cause and affect the outcome.

In the case of Penelope, she uses deception to trick the suitors. Penelope uses her wits to come up with a plan where she tells the suitors she will decide to marry one of them after she completes a burial shroud for her father-in-law, Laertes. As one of the suitors, Antinous, testifies to Telemachus, "This was what she said, and we assented; whereon we could see her working on her great web all day...